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Photography by Action Asia Photo
© 2002-8 Action Asia Photo - All Rights Reserved
www.actionasiaphoto.com


Fine detailing (much of it indented on hull) marks this model

Brass Plates are finished with a thick coating of clear resin

The Oscar Class of submarines were designed primarily to attack NATO aircraft carrier battle groups using cruise missiles. The first two submarines were of the Oscar I type, which were 35 feet shorter than the follow-on Oscar IIs - a third generation Russian submarine design. Eleven of the larger Oscar II submarines were built between 1985 and 1999 at the Sevmash yard in Severodvinsk. Seven Oscar II submarines remain active - two with the Northern Fleet and five with the Pacific Fleet.

Oscar I submarines (K-206 and K-525) resulted from Project 949 Granit.

The Oscar IIs are Project 949A Antey (K-119, K-132, K-141, K-186, K-266, K-410, K418, K-442 and K-456). Oscar IIs were lengthened to provide room for one additional compartment to improve the inner arrangement of the armament and equipment, and also possibly to make room for quieter machinery.

The Oscar II is divided into ten major compartments. The reinforced rounded cover of the sail is intended to break through the ice of the Arctic Polar regions. The two periscopes, radio-sextant and radar masts are located within the retractable devices area. The HF and UHF radio-masts, radio direction-finder masts and satellite communication and navigation masts are located on the airshaft that feeds compressors. Fitted with a floating antenna buoy, the sub can receive radio messages, target designation data and satellite navigation signals at a great depth and under the ice. The bow horizontal hydroplanes can retract into the hull to avoid damaging them when breaking thru ice. The main mechanisms have modular design and a two-cascade shock-absorbing system.

As with other Russian submarines, the Oscar has a double hull, comprising an inner pressure hull and an outer hydrodynamic hull. The 11 foot separation between the hulls provides significant reserve buoyancy and improved survivability against conventional torpedoes. The submarines are slow to dive and maneuver but have a submerged speed of 30 knots – sufficient to keep pace with their targets. The Oscar II is characterized by a substantially enlarged fin which improves underwater maneuverability.

K-141 Kursk

Commissioned in December 1994, K-141 was homeported at Vidyaevo, a port in the Murmansk region of Russia. Called "Kycpk" in its Russian name, the submarine was named after the Russian city of Kursk, where one of the biggest battles of World War II took place.

K-141 Kursk was assigned to the Northern Fleet of the Russian Navy and on August 12, 2000 was engaged in military exercises in the Barents Sea - when she suddenly sank with all 118 hands lost. At first the Russians claimed that the Kursk had collided with an American spy submarine that was also in the area but this was not the case. Later theories ranged from hitting a World War II-era underwater mine to being struck by a live torpedo either fired by the Kursk or another ship participating in the naval exercise. However, when the sub was raised in October 2001 the evidence proved that there was a massive internal explosion inside the submarine's torpedo compartment, likely triggered by leaking hydrogen peroxide - a substance that is used to propel torpedoes. The British stopped using hydrogen peroxide when an accident involving the substance sank the submarine HMS Sidon in 1955 and killed 13 men.